Pingtung County Research Articles

新型含硅型沸石肥料对水稻采收质量和产量的效益

水稻为全球最重要的粮食作物，中国也为全球最大的消费国和生产国。本研究测试一种新型含硅的水稻专用配方，分别于马来西亚和台湾地区测试水稻产量和质量。在马来西亚的方面，用量从化学肥料的用量从每公顷810公斤减至本肥料的150公斤，传统化肥产量为6100公斤/公顷。使用绿丰肥料每公顷收成可高达8000公斤。增产幅度33%。台湾方面，在屏东的九如乡和崁顶乡使用绿丰®水稻肥的增幅分别达到16.7%和15.7%。分析去壳后糙米质量，脱壳后千粒重，绿丰®水稻肥处理者较传统复合肥高出5.2%~7.8%。总淀粉含量方面，绿丰®水稻肥比对照组高出6.5%，稻谷水分和矿物质各处理间差异不大。说明了对比大幅减量的绿丰®水稻肥所生产出来的稻米质量，在水分和灰分的表现和传统肥料者无大差异，在总淀粉含量更高，直接说明了水稻对此肥料的利用率更佳，此配方适用于热带和亚热带水稻环境，十分合宜于中国境内水稻区推广使用。 Paddy rice is the most important staple food in the world. China is the biggest producer and consumer of paddy in the world as well. In this study, novel silica-containing fertilizers for paddy were used to study the yield and quality of paddy in Malaysia and Chinese Taipei. Compared to conventional chemical fertilizers, trial in Malaysia showed that the recommendation usage of this fertilizer was greatly reduced from 810 kg conventional to 150 kg; the yield was found increased from 6100 kg/ha to 8000 kg/ha, with 33% increment. In the trial in Taiwan, the yields from Jiuru and Kanting, Pingtung County also reported to be 16.7% and 15.7% increment, respectively. Evaluation on the quality of dehusked paddy, performance on thousand-grain weight, water content, ash and total starch, thousand-grain weight increased 5.2% - 7.8%; total starch content has 6.5% higher than conventional fertilizer group. No difference observed on the water content and mineral contents of both treatments. This further explained that qualities of grains were not affected by the reduction of fertilizer. This novel silica-containing fertilizer was especially suitable for tropical and sub-tropical paddy areas and very promising to be further promoted in China paddy plantation.

Reassembling Solar Farms, Reassembling the Social: A Case Study of Ping-Tung County in Southern Taiwan

In this article, I seek to offer a story of how an industrialized East Asian country, Taiwan, transformed itself into not only a producer of solar photovoltaic (PV) products but also a user of such technology. By highlighting redesignable artifacts, sociotechnical rearrangement, and local government translators, I apply actor-network theory to describe and analyze the emerging phenomenon of solar farms in Ping-Tung County in southern Taiwan, which simultaneously involves human and nonhuman actors. During the postdisaster reconstruction after Typhoon Morakot, 23.481 MW of solar panels were installed in the flood-damaged orchards and fish ponds in central Ping-Tung. The sites of the solar farms are neither the rooftops of buildings nor industrial wastelands. Solar PV products transferred from Western countries to Taiwan are called “redesignable artifacts.” If a certain technological artifact can be redesigned in a certain society, there are a certain number of people who are familiar with such technology and are skilled in its use. In other words, a variety of industrial local knowledge and technological supporting networks are deployed evenly and densely in Taiwan. Artifacts that are “black-boxed” by solar PV manufacturers can have some agency to make new sociotechnical networks, but only through certain “translators.” In my case study, the most important translators are the magistrate of the county government and his green energy team. By connecting local knowledge with expert knowledge and by connecting sites of agriculture and aquaculture with PV equipment workshops, these translators make heterogeneous human and nonhuman actors work in the same sociotechnical network, a symbiotic network of PV technologies, agriculture, and aquaculture. With the black-boxed objects, the solar PV products, in hand, these translators can break up the traditional connections between local farmers and their lands and make new connections among solar PV manufacturers, local landlords, and their lands. In the process of connecting heterogeneous sites, every group redefines its interests and begins an agenda of group formation. Every actor is displaced and seeks a “sociotechnical rearrangement” with other actors.

Elderly volunteering and psychological well-being

This study was designed to construct a model based on the concept of psychological well-being, in order to verify the relationship between Taiwanese elderly volunteering and their psychological well-being. Research data were collected via a questionnaire administered to the target population of this study, senior residents of Pingtung County aged 65 or more. The data were then tested and verified by confirmative factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The overall model showed higher levels of psychological well-being for the elderly who participated in volunteer work than those who did not, which again confirmed the positive relation between volunteer work and psychological well-being.

The nuclear disaster management system in Taiwan: a case study of the third (Maanshan) nuclear power plant.

This paper explores the effectiveness of the nuclear disaster management system in Taiwan via a review of the third (Maanshan) nuclear power plant. In doing so, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan on 11 March 2011 is reviewed and compared with the situation in Taiwan. The latter's nuclear disaster management system is examined with respect to three key variables: information; mobilisation; and inter-organisational cooperation. In-depth interviews with 10 policy stakeholders with different backgrounds serve as the research method. The results point up the need for improvement in all dimensions. In addition, they highlight three principal problems with the nuclear disaster management system: (i) it might not be possible to provide first-hand nuclear disaster information immediately to the communities surrounding the Maanshan facility in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan; (ii) the availability of medical resources for treating radiation in Hengchun Township is limited; and (iii) the inter-organisational relationships for addressing nuclear disasters need to be strengthened. Hence, cooperation among related organisations is necessary.

屏東縣偏遠地區國小教師專業學習社群、組織承諾與教學效能之研究 Relationships among Participation in Professional Learning Communities, Organizational Commitment, and Teaching Effectiveness of Elementary School Teachers in Pingtung County

屏東縣偏遠地區國小教師專業學習社群、組織承諾與教學效能之研究 Relationships among Participation in Professional Learning Communities, Organizational Commitment, and Teaching Effectiveness of Elementary School Teachers in Pingtung County

Geologic Hazard Assessment of Slopeland Villages Using Remote Sensing Techniques

This study focuses on 53 villages located in the slopelands of Pingtung County. Remote sensing image interpretation techniques are used to identify geologic hazard areas. GIS map overlay analysis of environmental geologic maps, landslide susceptibility maps and potential debris flow torrent maps provided by local and regional governments are used to further interpret and correctly identify the extent of the geologic hazard zone. This study successfully combines both GIS and GPS techniques, and according to data analysis results, constructs a slopeland village geologic hazard assessment method.

Effectiveness of GSP-Aided Instruction

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) in teaching the area of triangles to elementary students. The authors adopted a pretest-posttest research design with 2 equivalent groups. The subjects of the experiment comprised fifth-grade students from an elementary school in Pingtung County, divided into an experimental group of 26 students and a control group of 25 students. Both groups attended six 40-min lessons over a month, with the experimental group receiving GSP-aided instruction and the control group receiving traditional lecture instruction. The authors revised the test instrument based on , and the instrument was further reviewed and revised by experts. They conducted a third revision of the contents after performing a pilot test. The difficulty index of the test ranged between 0.18 and 1, and the discrimination index ranged between 0.13 and 0.88. The split-half reliability of the test was 0.8723. The results revealed the following: (a) in learning the area of triangles, the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group; (b) the results of the formative assessments indicated a superior performance in the experimental group compared with the control group in all of the lessons, with the exception of the second lesson; and (c) the male and female students in the experimental group and the control group exhibited no significant differences. Based on these results, the authors suggest that students be offered the opportunity to use concrete teaching aids or computer simulations when learning the area of triangles.

SMS-2D Simulation Meandering River Flow and Scouring Depth – Laishe River in South Taiwan as an Example

Due to the narrow island, topography and climatic factors and steep river bed erosion affecting in Taiwan, Laishe River in Pingtung County for example in this study, flow field simulating river change in bend-shaped section by SMS-2D in order to calculate accelerating erosion in the main deep grooves caused by reflecting force due to construction of the revetment protection, further evaluate the project footings erosion failures, is to verify the correctness of erosion equation simulation in the flow field, thus, providing reliable information and references for hydraulic engineers.

Gender Differences in Obesity Indices in a 10-Year Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

Objective: To explore the relationship between gender-specific of obesity indices and the 10-year risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among elderly population in southern Taiwan. Methods: Data were collected from Pingtung County in southern Taiwan through a health screening program, carried out from March 2007 to May 2008.The following obesity indices were included: (1) body mass index (BMI); (2) waist circumference (WC); (3) waist-to-hip ratio (WHR); (4) waist-height ratio (WHtR). The present study used the risk assessment tool of the Framingham Original Research Article Yang et al.; BJMMR, 5(9): 1121-1130, 2015; Article no.BJMMR.2015.126 1122 Heart Study and adopted ≦10% as low risk, 11~20% as moderate risk, and >20% as high risk for CVD. Multiple logistic regression was used to predict the risk indices of obesity causing 10-year risk for CVD. Results: A total of 831 participants were recruited in the screen program. The prevalence of the obesity indices was as follow: BMI 21.3%; WC 14.6%; WHR 47.1%; and WHtR 65.2%. A total of 118participants were found to have 10-year CVD risk groupings>20%, a prevalence rate of 14.2%. The 10-year risk for CVD is higher in men; subjects≧65 years old in both genders have a higher prevalence of moderate and high risk for CVD. After using multiple logistic regression, the results showed that men who are abnormal in WHR, WHtR, have higher moderate and high 10-year risk for CVD; In this study, men didn't find this risk in BMI and WC. Women on all four obesity indices are not the predictive factors of 10-year risk for CVD. Conclusion: The predictive factors of 10-year risk for CVD were found in WHR and WHtR of men.

Flash flood warnings using the ensemble precipitation forecasting technique: A case study on forecasting floods in Taiwan caused by typhoons

Summary A flash flood is an event that develops rapidly. Given early warnings with sufficient lead time, flood forecasting can help people prepare disaster prevention measures. To provide this early warning, a statistics-based flood forecasting model was developed to evaluate the flooding potential in urban areas using ensemble quantitative precipitation forecasts (the Taiwan Cooperative Precipitation Ensemble Forecast Experiment, TAPEX). The proposed model uses different sources of information, such as (i) the designed capacity of storm sewer systems, (ii) a flood inundation potential database, and (iii) historical flooding observations, to evaluate the potential for flash flooding situations to occur. Using 24-, 48- and 72-h ahead precipitation forecasts from the TAPEX, the proposed model can assess the flooding potential with two levels of risk and at the township scale with a 3-day lead time. The proposed model is applied to Pingtung County, which includes 33 townships and is located in southern Taiwan. A dataset of typhoon storms from 2010 to 2014 was used to evaluate the model performance. The accuracy and threat score for testing events are 0.68 and 0.30, respectively, with a lead time of 24 h. The accuracy and threat score for training events are 0.82 and 0.31, respectively, with a lead time of 24 h. The model performance decreases when the lead time is extended. However, the model demonstrates its potential as a valuable reference to improve emergency responses to alleviate the loss of lives and property due to flooding.

Prevalence and Psychological Correlates of Postnatal Depression in Rural Taiwanese Women

This descriptive longitudinal cohort study investigated the prevalence and psychological risk factors for depression in new mothers living in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan. Expectant mothers (n = 236) were recruited through antenatal clinics, and 162 participants were followed up at 6 weeks postpartum. The estimated prevalence of probable depression (at a cut-off score ≧ 13 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) was 17.3% before birth and 24.1% after birth. Several risk factors for postnatal depression were identified, including maternal self-esteem, antenatal depression, and psychiatric morbidity. The regression of intention on predictive variables yielded an adjusted R2 of.70. The findings can help clinical nurses effectively recognize and implement risk mitigation plans for the health benefits of rural childbearing women.

Prevalence of gout with comorbidity aggregations in southern Taiwan

ObjectiveComorbidity is an important concern for chronic gout patients. We evaluated the relationship between comorbidity profiles and gout in Taiwan aborigines and Taiwanese Han. MethodsWe used the claims data from the Taiwan national health insurance database for 2004 to 2006. Physician-diagnosed gout and comorbidities were coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). Total sampling from Pingtung County of southern Taiwan included 37,482 aborigines (gout cases, n=3906 and controls, n=33,576) and 37,451 Han (gout cases, n=1115 and controls, n=36,336). ResultsIn 2006, the gout prevalences were 10.42% and 2.98% (prevalence ratio [PR]=3.50) in the aborigines and Han general populations, respectively. The prevalences of uric acid nephrolithiasis and tophi were higher in aborigines (0.42% and 0.30%, respectively) than in Han (0.09% and 0.04%, respectively). When stratified by comorbidity status, the prevalences of gout were 4.49% and 27.34% in aborigines and 1.52% and 9.44% in Han (approximate PR=3.00). Similarly, the prevalence ratios of gout in the comorbidity group, compared with the non-comorbidity group, were 6.09 in aborigines and 6.23 in Han. Multivariate odds ratios [ORs] showed that hypercholesterolemia, hyperglyceridemia, essential hypertension and renal insufficiency were the common comorbidities of gout (OR≥1.63); heart failure exerted a significant effect only in aborigines (OR=1.55). For five comorbidity factors, patients with multiple comorbidities had higher gout prevalence (maximum OR=12.90). ConclusionGout prevalence was higher in aborigines, both with and without comorbidities, than in Han. The comorbid diseases and comorbidity aggregations showed a substantial association with gout occurrence in both ethnicities.

Association of urinary incontinence with impaired functional status among older people living in a long-term care setting.

To examine the association between functional status and urinary incontinence. A total of 27 participants with urinary incontinence and 50 participants without urinary incontinence were analyzed at a long-term care setting in Pingtung County, Taiwan, in 2011. The recruitment criteria were age older than 65 years, ability to communicate with the researcher, agreement to participate in the present study and potential ability to complete at least one measurement of functional status. Urinary incontinence was defined as urine leakage at least once a week during the past 4 weeks, whereas functional status was assessed by the body composition (body mass index and waist circumference), upper body strength (grasp test), lower body strength (30-s and 5-times chair stand test), upper body flexibility (back scratch test), lower body flexibility (chair sit-and-reach test) and agility/dynamic balance (8-ft up-and-go test). In univariate analyses, performances on the tests of 5-time chair stand, 30-s chair stand, 8-ft up-and-go, chair sit-and-reach, and grasp were significantly different between the participants with and without urinary incontinence (all P < 0.05). However, after multiple logistical regression adjusting sex, age and chronic illnesses, just two tests, 8-ft up-and-go and chair sit-and-reach, were independent predictors of urinary incontinence. Poor performance on the tests of 8-ft up-and-go and chair sit-and-reach were the predominated risk factors of urinary incontinence. Further studies regarding how to improve the functional status, especially focusing on the function of the lower body, might be required in order to enhance continence care.

Using Structural Equation Modeling to Analyze Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior Concerning Wetland Conservation

This study surveyed 338 the 5th and 6th grade students at an elementary school in Pingtung County, Taiwan, after they received three months education on wetland conservation. A total of 325 valid responses were received, accounting for 96.2% of the students. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM), and the outcome showed that the structural model of wetland conservation passed the normality test and that the model had a good fit. It was understood through path coefficients that conservation attitude is a partial mediator. The total effect of conservation knowledge on conservation attitude and behavior is 0.78, and the total effect of conservation attitude on conservation behavior is 0.59.

Relief supply in the aftermath of the 2009 typhoon morakot

Purpose: To monitor whether the relief including food, and supplies met the need for the Typhoon Morakot victims. Approach: Relief data was obtained from the Relief Coordination Center (RCC), Pingtung County Government during July 10 to July 28, 2009. The relief was classified into food and supplies categories. Results: The most need of relief was cleaner necessaries (8/15 = 53.3 %), the last need of relief was seasoning (0/15 = 0 %). The subjects including eggs, bread, cloths, socks, lighter, and candle were not required by the victims although they were donated by people. Conclusion: The several catchment areas in Pingtung County needed to be cleaned after the flooding. Therefore, the kind of cleaner necessaries was the most as well as the longest need of relief expectantly. Our results suggest the priorities of resources allocation for the next disaster. Keywords: Typhoon Morakot, Cleaner Necessaries, Resource Allocation.

Innovative Promotion of Renewable Energy Development for Challenging Sustainable Low-Carbon Society: Case Study of Pingtung County, Taiwan

Pingtung County, located in the southernmost part of Taiwan, has been selected as one of the Smarter Cities Challenge by the International Business Machines (IBM) in 2013 due to its innovative promotion for renewable energy exploitation in recent years. In this regard, the objective of this paper will be to present an in-depth analysis of the success of environmental sustainability efforts through aggressive measures and profitable plans by this tropical county. The description in the paper is, thus, summarized on the central regulations and economic measures for promoting renewable energy in Taiwan, focusing on the feed-in tariff (FIT). Then, some innovative promotion plans for renewable energy in Pinugtung County, including swine-derived biogas-to-power and “Raise Water, Grow Electricity”, were further addressed to show the preliminary results under the funding supports of the central and local governments. With a practical basis of the total swine population (around 433,000 heads), from the farm scale of over 5,000 heads in Pingtung County, a preliminary analysis showed the annual benefits: methane reduction of 2.2 Gg, electricity generation of 8.3 × 106 kilowatt-hour (kW-h), equivalent electricity charge saving of 8.3 × 105 US Dollar (USD), and equivalent carbon dioxide mitigation of 50.9 thousand tons (Gg).

First Report of Chrysoporthe deuterocubensis Causing Canker on Syzygium samarangense in Taiwan.

Wax apple (Syzygium samarangense Merr. & Perry, syn. Eugenia javanica Lam.) belongs to the Myrtaceae family is an important economical tree fruit in Taiwan. The total production acreage of wax apple was 5,266 ha in which more than 77% were located in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan, in 2012. Since the winter of 2010, symptoms of withering leaves and cracking branches on wax apple trees were observed in some orchards in Nanjhou and Linbian Townships, Pingtung County. Diseased trees declined gradually and resulted in reduced fruit production. On the bark of diseased twigs and branches, black conidiamata with yellowish orange conidia were usually observed. For diagnosis, tissues from symptomatic branches were excised, surface sterilized with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, and placed on 2% water agar in petri dishes. A total of four identical fungal isolates were obtained and maintained on potato dextrose agar (PDA). To fulfill Koch's postulates, three twigs of a wax apple tree were wounded with scalpel and inoculated with each of the four isolates, one tree per isolate. A 7-day-old hyphal mat (about 7 × 18 mm) of each fungal isolate was attached on the wound, wrapped with a wet absorbent cotton and Parafilm, and then covered with a layer of aluminum foil. For the control, the twigs of a wax apple tree were inoculated with PDA plugs. The pathogenicity test was repeated once. After 30 days, withering leaves and cracking twigs were observed on inoculated twigs and the same pathogen was reisolated. Conversely, all of the non-inoculated plants remained healthy. Identification of the pathogen was conducted using its morphological, physiological, and molecular characteristics. On malt extract agar, the colony was floccose and white with hazel hues. The optimal temperature for the mycelial growth was 30°C. Conidia were hyaline, and oblong, with the average size of 4.7 ± 0.6 × 2.7 ± 0.2 μm (100 conidia). Ascostromata were semi-immersed in the bark with fusoid asci, eight ascospores per ascus. Ascospores were hyaline, 2-celled, and tapered in both ends, with the average length of 6.8 ± 0.7 × 2.4 ± 0.3 μm (100 ascospores). For molecular identification, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of ribosomal DNA and β-tubulin genes was amplified using the ITS1/ITS4 (3), Bt1a/Bt1b, and Bt2a/Bt2b (1) primer pairs. The gene sequences were deposited in GenBank (Accessions KC792616, KC792617, KC792618, and KC792619 for the ITS region; KC792620, KC792621, KC792622, and KC792623 for Bt1 region, and KC812732, KC812733, KC812734, and KC812735 for Bt2 region) and showed 99 to 100% identity to the Chrysoporthe deuterocubensis isolate CMW12745 (DQ368764 for ITS region; GQ290183 for Bt1 region, and DQ368781 for Bt2 region). In addition, the Bt1 region of the β-tubulin gene consisted of two restriction sites for AvaI and one restriction site for HindIII. This is identical to the description of C. deuterocubensis, a cryptic species in C. cubensis, by Van Der Merwe et al. (2). According to these results, the pathogen was identified as C. deuterocubensis Gryzenh. & M. J. Wingf. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of canker disease caused by C. deuterocubensis on S. samarangense in Taiwan.

First Report of Myrothecium roridum Causing Myrothecium Leaf Spot on Dieffenbachia picta 'Camilla' in Taiwan.

Dumb cane (Dieffenbachia picta (Lodd.) Schott 'Camilla'), family Araceae, is a popular houseplant in Taiwan. During the winter of 2012, dumb canes with dark brown concentric spots on leaves and bright yellow borders were found in a protected ornamental nursery in Wandan township, Pingtung County, Taiwan. On diseased leaves, fungal fruiting bodies were sometimes observed in the concentric lesions and a fungal isolate was consistently isolated from the lesions. A single spore isolate, myr 2-2, was maintained on potato dextrose agar (PDA) for further tests. To fulfill Koch's postulates, the spores of myr 2-2 were suspended in sterilized distilled water containing 0.05% of Tween 20, 1 × 105 conidia ml-1, and then sprayed on leaves of D. picta 'Camilla' growing in polypropylene plant pots (about 7 cm in diameter), three plants per treatment. For the control, three plants were sprayed with sterilized distilled water containing 0.05% of Tween 20. Both inoculated and non-inoculated plants were covered with plastic bags and incubated in a growth chamber at 26 ± 1°C. Nine to 12 days after inoculation, symptoms described above were observed on inoculated plants whereas the plants in control remained healthy. The same fungus was reisolated from inoculated plants but not from the controls. Furthermore, the fungal pathogen was identified using its physiological, morphological, and molecular characteristics. In the mycelial growth test, the diameter of the fungal colony reaches 58.2 mm on PDA at 25°C after 14 days. The colonies were floccose, white to buff, and sporulate in concentric zones with olivaceous black to black sporodochia bearing viscid masses of conidia. Conidia were narrowly ellipsoid with rounded ends. The average size of 100 conidia was 6.25 ± 0.04 × 1.63 ± 0.02 μm. For molecular identification, the rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of isolate myr 2-2 was PCR amplified using ITS1 (5'-TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG-3') and ITS4 (5'- TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3') primer pairs (3) and sequenced. The rDNA sequence was deposited in GenBank (KC469695) and showed 100% identity to the Myrothecium roridum isolates BBA 71015 (AJ302001) and BBA 67679 (AJ301995) (4). According to the physiological, morphological (1,2), and molecular characteristics, the fungal isolate was identified as M. roridum Tode ex Fr. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Myrothecium leaf spot caused by M. roridum on D. picta 'Camilla' in Taiwan.

Health‐related quality of life in people with overactive bladder symptoms: reliability and validity of the traditional Chinese version of the Kings' Health Questionnaire

ABSTRACTOveractive bladder (OAB) is a common medical condition. A number of health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) measurements for OAB have been developed during recent years, including the linguistic validation of the traditional Chinese version of the Kings' Health Questionnaire (KHQ). However, limited studies are available for this version of KHQ. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the reliability and discriminant validity of this traditional Chinese version within the communities of Taiwanese. A cross‐sectional and case–control study was designed. On the basis of a convenience sampling, participants were recruited at a community health center in Pingtung County, Taiwan from March to July 2010. The collected data included OAB symptoms assessed by the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), the HRQOL assessed by the traditional Chinese version of the KHQ and demographic characteristics. Subjects with urinary urgency at least once a week and a total score of OABSS ≥ 3 were assigned to the OAB group. Participants without OAB but with matched age and gender were selected as the control group. Internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach's α, and discriminant validity was examined by Student's independent t‐test. A total of 173 pairs of observations were matched and analysed. The Cronbach's α value was above 0·80 for the traditional Chinese version of KHQ and all its subscales, suggesting a good internal consistency reliability for this measurement. The participants in OAB group showed poor quality of life than the controls (all p &lt; 0·001), which display a good discriminant validity of traditional Chinese version of KHQ. Only 39·9% (n = 69) participants with OAB had discussed their symptoms with a doctor during the past year. As the HRQOL could be improved by medical help, health care providers should educate the public about OAB and encourage patients to seek medical attention.

Exploring the relationship among principals supervision of instruction, teachers' knowledge sharing and teachers' professional development: A test of the mediated-effects model

This study aims to analyze the relationship between principal's supervision of instruction, teachers' knowledge sharing and teachers' professional development by using mediated-effects model. Previous studies normally use directed-effects model. However, the use of directed-effects model does not resolve the most important theoretical issues concerning the means by which principals achieve an impact on teachers' professional development through teachers' knowledge sharing. Therefore, we use mediated-effects model to analyze the relationship in this study. By using product-moment correlation, regression analysis and the structural equation modeling (SEM), this study examined the relationship between principal's supervision of instruction and teachers' professional development mediated by the condition of knowledge sharing. Three related questionnaires were used to measure the major variables while data was collected of teachers in Pingtung County. It was found that principal's supervision of instruction can predict teachers' knowledge sharing and principal's supervision of instruction and teachers' knowledge sharing can also predict teachers' professional development. Also, the result from mediated-effects model indicated that knowledge sharing had the significant mediated effects of supervision of instruction on teachers' professional development.